Garth Brooks Fan Receives $65K After Freak Concert Accident

A woman who was hit in the face by a falling pole at a Garth Brooks concert in Nashville has received a $65,000 payout for her trouble.

Billboard reports that Jean Ann Crenshaw drove from her native Kentucky to Nashville to attend Brooks' concert at the Bridgestone Arena on Dec. 9, 2017. The concert included a balloon and confetti drop from the rafters. The balloons failed to drop properly, and when a worker pried them loose, he accidentally dropped the metal pole he was using as a prybar into the audience. Crenshaw was looking up to try to catch a balloon, and the pole struck her beneath her eye, causing Crenshaw a broken nose and other injuries that required stitches and surgery.

Iden Entertainment, the company responsible for the balloon drop, took responsibility for the accident, and its insurance company, State Farm, has issued a $65,000 settlement that covers $25,000 in medical fees and $40,000 for additional damages.

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"We do something wrong, we take ownership," Iden General Manager and Vice President R.J. Monds tells Billboard, adding that the incident was the first accident the company has experienced out of more than 2,000 balloon drops spanning more than two decades. Monds says the employee who dropped the pole was shaken and received a reprimand, but continues to work for the company.

Crenshaw says she and her friends all received refunds for the show, and representatives from the arena contacted her within days of the show. Someone from Brooks' professional team took down her contact information before she left the concert site to go to the hospital, but she says she never heard directly from anyone associated with Brooks afterward. She now has scar tissue blocking her tear ducts, and she still gets shooting pain from nerve damage near the eye from time to time. Her face was visibly bruised and swollen for several months after the accident, and Crenshaw says her husband got nasty looks from strangers who evidently thought he had caused her injuries.

Crenshaw says she's "disappointed" that she never heard from Brooks' team, but even so, she's still considering attending one of the superstar's upcoming Stadium Tour dates. She says since most stadiums are open-air venues, there's less chance of being injured by falling objects.

"The worst that could happen is a bird could poo on you," she tells Billboard.

Brooks is slated to kick off his 2019 Stadium Tour on March 9 with a show at Dome at America's Center in St. Louis.